Dr. Salameh’s research interest focuses on two major thrusts: [1] exploring the therapeutic effect of implementing a myoelectrically controlled arm orthosis into acute stroke rehabilitation programs on the clinical outcomes of subjects with severe arm deficit and [2] understanding the underlying neuroplastic mechanisms that guide the improvement in upper limb motor control during acute stroke rehabilitation.

Dr. Salameh came to Cleveland FES Center in April 2019 from Case Western Reserve University. She joined the Brain Plasticity and NeuroRehabilitation Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow working under the mentorship of Dr. Svetlana Pundik, MD, MSc. Her research interest focuses on two major thrusts: [1] exploring the therapeutic effect of implementing a myoelectrically controlled arm orthosis into acute stroke rehabilitation programs on the clinical outcomes of subjects with severe arm deficit and [2] understanding the underlying neuroplastic mechanisms that guide the improvement in upper limb motor control during acute stroke rehabilitation. Dr. Salameh also acts as the clinical coordinator for a StrokeNet research project that focuses on developing new therapeutic approach to boost arm recovery after stroke. She is also heavily involved in a study that aims to enhance gait motor control for subject with chronic stroke by combining virtual reality with non-invasive brain stimulation.

Dr. Salameh holds a MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology and a PhD in Neurophysiology from the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University where she delineated a novel neuron-astrocyte crosstalk that is critical to support the electrical activities of the neurons. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral F32 fellowship award and the Department of Veteran Affairs Career Development Award-Level1, where she obtained both awards from the first attempt.

Publications (Select)

Entire publication list can be found here.

  • Sadeghikhah S, Skelly S, McCabe JP, Salameh AI, Pundik S. Sensory Function Improvement is Related to White Matter Changes during Rehabilitation. ISC 2020. Abstract
  • Salameh AI, Skelly P, McCabe J, Pundik S. Development of a Quantitative Tool to Measure Ankle Proprioception in Stroke Survivors. ASNR 2019. Abstract.
  • Salameh AI; Hϋbner C, and Boron WF, Role of Cl-HCO3 exchanger AE3 in intracelllular-pH homeostatis in cultured murine hippocampal neurons, and in crosstalk to adjacent astrocytes, Journal of Physiology. 2017 Jan 1;595(1):93-124. doi: 10.1113/JP272470.
  • Scott-McKean JJ, Surewicz K, Choi JK, Ruffin VA, Salameh AI, Nieznanski K, Costa ACS, Surewicz WK, Soluble  Prion  Protein  and  Its  N-terminal Fragment Suppress Synaptotoxic and Cytotoxic Effects of A&[beta] Oligomers: Implications for Novel Therapeutic Strategy in Alzheimer's Disease, Neurobiology of Disease. 2016 Jul;91:124-131. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2016.03.001.
  • Salameh AI; Ruffin VA; and Boron WF, Effects of metabolic acidosis on intracellular pH responses in multiple cell types,American Journal of Physiology. Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2014 Dec 15;307(12):R1413-27. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00154.2014.
  • Ruffin VA, Salameh AI, Boron WF and Parker MD, Intracellular pH regulation by acid/base transporters in mammalian neurons, Front Physiol. 2014 Feb 13;5:43. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00043. eCollection 2014. (Review).

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Investigator
Cleveland FES Center 

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Adjunct instructor, School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Case Western Reserve University

Research Scientist
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Contact
Ahlam Salameh, PhD, MSc

Contact Email
asalameh@fescenter.org

Twitter
@BrainSalameh